Coping With Insomnia

Hello my lovelies how have you been? In today’s post I’m sharing something that I’ve struggled with off and on for the past few years which is, insomnia. It’s not exactly a topic of conversation that really gets discussed so I’m going to tell you how I’ve been coping with insomnia in the hopes that it helps one person.

Coping with Insomnia

Background

Insomnia is when you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep even if, you’re in bed and want to sleep. Essentially, it’s a pain in the butt! Insomnia falls into 2 categories; acute or chronic insomnia. Acute insomnia is more short-term and can be due to life circumstances such as a break-up. Chronic insomnia, on the other hand, is a long-term condition that could be environmental.

What to Do?

So you have identified that you’ve got insomnia, now what? Here are a few things I’ve tried and helped me when it got really bad.

Acceptance

I used to fight insomnia and tried to force myself to sleep, which inevitably made things worse. I sometimes didn’t sleep for days and life became very dull and exhausting. What I did and still do now is accept that I may or may not get sleep. Once I accept this, I don’t feel so anxious or stressed about it and sometimes I actually fall asleep.

Night-time Routine

By creating a night-time routine you can signal to your brain that you’re ready to sleep and your body starts to relax. I’ve found doing certain things in a particular order really helps me to relax. It takes it out of my head and I don’t need to worry about it so I can truly let go. If you’d like me to write a post on my night-time routine let me know in the comments below.

Sleeping Aids

I am a big advocate of using what you can, in a safe way, to help you sleep. There’s nothing worse than being constantly tired and not being able to alleviate some of the discomforts that come with it. Scents are really helpful in relaxing my busy mind. I like the pillow spray from This Works and Ikea had a sea salt candle that I found calming. If those aren’t appealing vanilla can be warm, cosy and calming. I’ve also had sleepy tea whilst reading a book or putting on a Nidra Yoga meditation.

I haven’t completely cured my insomnia but through experience coping with insomnia is manageable. Let me know if you have any other tips to deal with meditation below. Ultimately, learning to deal with stress and dealing with any underlying issues will help you deal with insomnia long-term. That’s all for me today and remember to sign up for the weekly newsletter or Bloglovin to keep up to date with posts.